Question

How can I make the fall holidays special if no one celebrates them where we live?

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We've lived in Europe for the past three years, and every year I struggle to find good ways for our family to celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving. They're not celebrated here, so there's no holiday from school or work, no trick-or-treating or dressing up for Halloween, and no big turkeys for Thanksgiving! Does anyone have suggestions for making the fall holidays special for my toddler and older kids?

Mom Answers

Find your own ways to celebrate! I have lived in Europe for 12 years. We have always celebrated Halloween and Thanksgiving, but we have our own traditons.
For Halloween, I bake chocolate chip cookies, put them in nice bags, and the kids get costumed up and distribute the cookies to the neighbors - kind of reverse trick-or-treating. After 5 years, the neighbors are now used to us and look forward to us coming. Other Americans have organized parties with local children, and worked with neighbors to plan out a trick-or-treating route - they have even supplied neighbors with candy just so they could bring by a group of costumed kids.
We always celebrate Thanksgiving on the Saturday after - the date doesn't really matter, as many have already said. We do the traditional, and invite friends over. We now have a group of families who take turns hosting, bringing the turkey, etc.
My suggestion - Enjoy the American holidays, and use them as a way to make connections to the people where you live.

I am a Dane married to an american, and we live in Denmark. Halloween is slowly coming here, but mainly people do Jack o'lanterns and stuff like that.
For Thanksgiving, we have a lot of family and friends over, cook a huge Thanksgiving meal ( Order a big turkey ahead of time from the butchershop ) and celebrate together.
We have the exact same food as my husbands family does in the states.
And everyone loves it !!

I live in Florence, Italy and Halloween has become very popular here. My American friends and I organize trick or treating with neighborhood coffee bars and stores. I actually bring them the candy the day before. Afterwards, we have a Halloween pary at someone's house.

Re: the comment~An evil day such as halloween? Wow, that's kind of harsh. I think it's just kids having fun. An excuse to dress up & get candy. It's a good fun family activity and tradition. I don't see what's evil about that.
Now on topic, I think some ppl had wonderful ideas! Try to find some other US natives to have your own small celebration with. Good luck!

Halloween has spiritual significance for me. Yes, living in the US, my daughter will dress up and trick or treat on our block. But more importantly I will share memories of my grandparents and others who have passed into the spirit world. This year I will encourage her to remember her grandma who made this transition suddenly only 2 mos. ago. Thanksgiving, too, has spiritual significance. What are you thankful for? It's a good question to ask ourselves and our children frequently. Being thankful for food and friends is universal. How it's celebrated can vary with circumstances. The core meaning is what I want to pass on to the next generation.

For us, Thanksgiving is a small family affair, so we could celebrate it anywhere. We exchange Christmas ornaments and then unpack the Advent Calendar.
I can only wish that Halloween was not celebrated where we live. As it is, we are exposed to fright, witches, ghosts, etc. everywhere we go. Being a Christian and knowing that witches are real and evil is real, I hate celebrating it. We have the opposite dilemma - avoiding Halloween when its everywhere. Lucky You!

'Down Under Mum' was pretty mean -- why not just insult every Halloween-celebrating American on this site? Did she really think that we Americans don't know that Halloween is also called "All Hallows Eve?" She made some pretty broad assumptions. As if Aussie culture hasn't been embraced here (especially after Crocodile Dundee!) Anyway, Halloween isn't "American," it has its roots in England and trick-or-treating started in Ireland! So stop with the "ugly American" rants, it's getting OLD! When you grow up with a holiday, it's hard to let go. Halloween is one of the truly few days when the whole neighborhood really gets out and meets and greets. Don't you have a fun "holiday" like that?? As for the Mom who called it "Evil" oh, good grief. If a three-year-old at my door dressed as Winnie the Pooh is evil then I don't want to have 'TC' as a neighbor!! ;)
I can certainly commiserate with Sabrina, though -- I just moved to Florida from Michigan and the culture is completely different. You get homesick and even though you want to join them in new traditions, you tend to cling to yours even more dearly. Soon it will balance out and when your children are grown you will be amazed at the traditions -- which were new and fumbling to you at the time -- that they will cherish and want to pass onto their children. Enjoy the adventure!!

I would definelty throw a party of your own. You can make it a "costume party" if Halloween isn't big where you are. I can't imagine kids not having fun dressing up in costumes - my kids do it year round!!

I live in the U.S. and have 3 children, I decorate everything, right down to my van for Halloween! I love this time of year! But I have noticed more and more that not as many people celebrate or get into it anymore, and I find that very sad, I was raised a Christian and have been in church all of my life, everyone has there own views and options about the holidays, I do wish things were different though. There are alot of Halloween activities going on around the area I live in for Halloween but they are sometimes restricted as to what kind of costume you can wear...no witches, devils, ghouls, gobblins, nothing scary is allowed. (I usually don't attend those though). I like the scary stuff! But just because I do, doesn't mean I worship it! It's all just fun! I would love to have a Halloween party and invite kids in the neighborhood, or from school maybe one day I will. I just wish more people would get into the fun of the holidays.
I have read some of the comments some other people have written in and it sounds like they gave you some pretty great ideas! I hope you all have wonderful holidays no matter how you celebrate it! Have fun & God bless!

As I currently plan trick or treating in our apartment building in Singapore, there are always children willing to have fun and explore others' holidays! The American Schools, American Women's Association and other American groups will also have a celebration. One year we had a costume party at home with some friends- and had older siblings and parents stand behind the doors of the rooms of our house- the kids "trick or treated" from room to room instead of from house to house.
For Thanksgiving we do a dinner with friends the Saturday after Thanksgiving- we invite friends who are near and dear to us (living overseas your friends do become family). We serve a turkey- and ask each of our friends to bring a dish from their childhood. It is an international feast celebrating friends, family and good things in our lives-giving thanks for these blessings cuts across all cultures and brings us together.
Last week we attended a Lantern Festival for the Moon Festival. Next week will be a Deepavali party. My whole family, including the kids enjoy learning about other cultures as well as sharing our own- it is why we chose to live overseas.
Happy Holidays!

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